Aileen Cleveland Higgins

Aileen Cleveland Higgins was an American author born in 1882 and died in 1966. Public-domain library records identify her not only as a writer, but also as a nurse and playwright, which helps explain the unusual breadth of her work.

Her published books include the children’s collection Dream Blocks from 1908, as well as titles such as A Little Princess of Tonopah, A Little Princess of the Patio, A Little Princess of the Ranch, and A Little Princess of the Stars and Stripes. Catalog records also show that she wrote The Psychology of Nursing, first published in 1921, pointing to a serious interest in nursing education alongside her literary work.

What makes her especially interesting is that her career seems to bridge several worlds at once: children’s literature, popular fiction, drama, and professional writing for nurses. Even from the limited surviving records, she comes across as a versatile early American writer whose work reached both young readers and adult students.